London/Kolkata, March 28 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing the Kellogg College, Oxford University in London, on Thursday, was interrupted suddenly by a group of protesting students, who tried to disrupt her speech and embarrass the Chief Minister by raising the issue of post-poll violence and the RG Kar College and hospital financial scandal.

However, Chief Minister Banerjee managed the situation with a cool head and responded to the protesters while maintaining courtesy.

Initially, the guests present in the audience were shocked by the sudden protest, but they applauded the Chief Minister’s response.

Finally, CM Mamata Banerjee concluded her speech without any hitches.

She was heard telling the protesters, “Tell your party to increase its strength in our state (West Bengal) so that they can fight with us.”

When this incident took place around the Chief Minister’s speech, former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly was also present in the audience.

Although there were various meetings related to industry and trade during the London visit, the main attraction of the Chief Minister’s visit was this speech at Kellogg College.

And that’s where this unexpected incident happened.

Although the Chief Minister’s speech was temporarily disrupted by this incident of a handful of protesters, the way the Chief Minister handled the entire situation while maintaining courtesy while standing on foreign soil has further increased her reputation as a politician in the international community, political analysts said.

In the end, the protesters were forced to leave the hall in the face of the collective protests by the rest of the audience.

The Chief Minister was invited to speak at Kellogg College on the social development of women, children and the marginalised sections of the society.

While speaking, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was mentioning projects like ‘Swasthya Saathi’ and ‘Kanyashree’ in the state.

While speaking about the industrial situation in West Bengal, when the topic of investment in the Tatas’ TCS company was raised, some people from the back of the audience stood up with placards in their hands. It had written about the election and post-poll violence in the state, as well as the RG tax scandal.

The protesters tried to make their point by shouting during the Chief Minister’s speech.

The Chief Minister, however, was not the least bit disturbed and continued to handle the protests in a calm but firm voice from the beginning.

CM Banerjee told the protesters, “You are welcoming me, thank you. I will feed you sweets.”